Community post

FOUND GREAT INFORMATION FOR YOU LADIES

I did this last time i was TTC. Thought some might find it useful. It's very TMI!

CERVIX CHECKING

I found checking my cervix was really useful when i've been TTC, but you genuinely have to give it a couple of cycles before you know what you're feeling. Don't even chart anything the first cycle, just get to know it.

Please describe the mechanics of how you check your cervix: At the same time every day i would come home from work, go for my after work wee and wash my hands thoroughly. Then squat on the bathroom floor and insert two fingers and have a good root around.

How do you know that what you're feeling is your cervix? The best time to start is when you know you're not fertile at all, so right after your bleeding has stopped. Your cervix will then be really low and firm and you should feel it pretty much straight away when you put your fingers in to the end. The walls of your vag feel kinda ribbed, but your cervix at this time is smooth and firm. It sort of feels like the rounded end of a tampon coming down, but smoother.

When you're in a low fertile time of your cycle

What does the position feel like (low/high) and how can you tell? It is low, and the only way you will know what is low or high to you is to feel it right after AF has finished for the first time and then you have this base point to compare to.
Describe how firm/soft it is and what it is comparable to: It's smooth feeling and described like being as firm as the tip of your nose.
What does the opening (os) feel like? My os is like a slit that is tightly closed when not fertile. I have heard though that it may not be like this again after a vaginal birth. Again, if you feel it right after AF you will have that base point for comparison.
Any other tips?

When you're becoming more fertile

What does the position feel like (low/high) and how can you tell? It starts to get slightly higher. This part can be tricky because until you've felt really low (unfertile) and really high (fertile) before you won't quite understand how inbetween feels. That's why it's important to get to know your cervix by feeling it every day for a whole cycle before starting to actually chart it.
Describe how firm/soft it is and what it is comparable to: It's softer than firm, but not as soft as soft. I know that sounds nonsense, but it will all make sense once you've grasped non-fertile (firm) and fertile (soft), i promise!
What does the opening (os) feel like? It stops being so much of a slit and starts to feel more like a dint that you can press. You might think that it's open until you feel what really fertile feels like because it starts to open. Again though, you need to feel fertile before you can make a comparison.
Any other tips?

When you're fertile / ovulating

What does the position feel like (low/high) and how can you tell? Sometimes my cervix is so high that i can't feel it at all. Usually i need to bear down some and really dig in there to get a feel when i'm fertile, it's so high!
Describe how firm/soft it is and what it is comparable to: It's really mushy feeling and kind of blends in more with the rest of the inside of your vag, which is why it's harder to feel it for the first time if you're fertile.
What does the opening (os) feel like? This is probably a gross comparison, but it feels like a little, open bumhole. You know how your anus has that sort of drawstring effect round the opening? Your cervical os is like that too, but on a smaller scale. When i'm really fertile i can push a fingertip into the opening. Not far, but it's wide enough to get a little tip in.
Any other tips?

I just can't stress enough how important it is to do this EVERY day at the SAME time every day and do it one cycle through just observing it and making a mental note before actually charting it.

CHECKING CERVICAL FLUID

First of all can you describe how you go about checking your CM? I would always check my CM at the same time as checking my cervix. I'd do it at the same time every day. So i'd come home from work, have my after work wee and then wash my hands thoroughly. I'd insert two fingers and check my cervix. When i was done checking that i would take my fingers out, trying to get some CM out with them and inspect that. I know it sounds gross, but it is the single MOST useful clue to how fertile you are. Some people can check by just seeing what they get in their pants throughout the day and although i do pay attention to that, i found that not much made it to my pants, so it was easier to check internally. Plus i was checking my cervix anyway, so killing two birds with one stone and that.

As well as doing an internal just pay attention to how you 'feel' during the day. Are you feeling wetter than usual? Drier? When you wipe after a wee how slippery is it?

Dry CM (or no CM)

What does is look like on your fingers? They come out with nothing on them at all really and they dry really fast once in the air.
What does it look like in your pants? Pants are usually unaffected. Nothing on them.
What does it feel like? Dry i guess. Doesn't feel like much of anything
What does your vagina feel like when you have dry CM? It might not be as easy to insert your fingers at this time of your cycle than at others because you aren't as lubricated.
Anything else useful?

Sticky CM

What does is look like on your fingers? It might be a creamy colour and quite thick in consistancy. If you use two fingers and put some of it on one, press them together and then pull slowly apart, sticky CM will make loads of small peaks on your fingers because it breaks really easily. It's also described as gummy.
What does it look like in your pants? It can dry to a crumbly kind of yellowy substance. When dry the pattern it makes in your pants is kind of scratchy and assymetrical.
What does it feel like? When you have it on your fingers from checking it can feel thick and sticky. In you